Two seriously injured in traffic accidents in Anne Arundel County overnight

Two separate accidents in Anne Arundel County early Saturday morning sent two people to an area hospital with serious injuries, the Anne Arundel County Police Department said.

About 1:20 a.m. Saturday, a Lexus sedan stuck a Mercedes Benz on the northbound lanes of Ritchie Highway in Severna Park. The Lexus rolled over on its side and a passenger, Casey Brooke Barber, 22, of Pasadena, was thrown from the vehicle. Barber was not wearing a seat belt, police said. She was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where she was being treated for life-threatening injuries.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department said that speed, alcohol usage and failure to obey a traffic control device may have contributed to the crash.

A few minutes later, a Honda Civic struck a house in 900 block of Hillside Ave. in Edgewater. Police said the driver, Ryan Douglas Anderson, 20, of Harwood, failed to negotiate a "T" intersection and drove straight into the house. Anderson was seriously injuried and in the crash and was being treated at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Although the house was occupied at the time, no one inside was injured. Police said they did not know whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.